Electrically-gated near-field radiative thermal transistor

Abstract: In this work, we propose a near-field radiative thermal transistor made of two graphene-covered silicon carbide (SiC) plates separated by a nanometer vacuum gap. Thick SiC plates serve as the thermal "source" and "drain", while graphene sheets function as the "gate" to modulate the near-field photon tunneling by tuning chemical potential with applied voltage biases symmetrically or asymmetrically. The radiative heat flux calculated from fluctuational electrodynamics significantly varies with graphene chemical potentials, which can tune the coupling between graphene plasmon across the vacuum gap. Thermal modulation, switching, and amplification, which are the key features required for a thermal transistor, are theoretically realized and analyzed. This work will pave the way to active thermal management, thermal circuits, and thermal computing.